It hasn’t been a good year for Warner Bros. so far. The studio has recorded five consecutive flops in a row. In January, things started our rough with Gangster Squad. Even though the film was packed with stars, it mustered only a $17 million opening weekend.Things didn’t get any better for Warner Bros. in February when Bullet To The Head with Sylvester Stallone wound up firing blanks. Bullet to the Head opened to less than $5 million and didn’t even clear $10 million during its run. Beautiful Creatures didn’t fare much better, only bringing in $19 million total against a $60 million production budget.Of course, the worst was yet to come for Warner Bros. in March. With a colossal $200 million budget, Jack The Giant Slayer turned out to be a John Carter size flop with only a $27 million opening weekend. Just like John Carter, the reviews were actually ok on Jack The Giant Slayer, it just didn’t seem to capture the general moviegoers attention.This past weekend Warner Bros. threw two great comedians at the box office, but still came up with yet another flop. Despite the presence of both Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone managed only a meager $10 million in its opening weekend. The only solace that Warner Bros. can take is that at least the production budget wasn’t too high at $32 million.Despite the awful start to the year so far for Warner Bros., there is hope right around the corner. The Great Gatsby is set to be released in early May, and the trailers for the film look great. It’s something different for the box office, and DiCaprio could deliver another Titanic size hit. However, the box office can be finicky when it comes to period pieces, so there are no guarantees it will do well. It also has the unenviable position of opening a week after Iron Man 3. If Iron Man 3 becomes another Avengers for Disney, it just might destroy everything it its path for several weekends. And even if Great Gatsby is a humongous hit, it’s sort of a one and done movie for Warner Bros. and not a film that will launch a much-need new franchise.In late May, The Hangover Part III is being released, which is a proven franchise for Warner Bros. The film is pretty much assured of having a monster opening weekend, but comedies fade fast if they aren’t funny. With no reviews or early screening buzz for The Hangover Part III yet, it’s a mystery as to how good or bad the film might be. And once again, even it if is a big hit, The Hangover Part III is more of a franchise ender than a franchise beginner.What does all this mean? It means that Warner Bros. needs Man Of Steel to be a real Superman for them. With five flops already, Warner Bros. needs to look back at the year and be able to say at least we launched a successful new franchise. Man of Steel is probably Warner Bros. best shot at starting a new franchise this year. If Man of Steel fails to take off, then Warner Bros. will likely face it’s worst year ever. If Man of Steel flies through, a lot of the early year flops will be forgiven.
